that is good to know, when i go for the final push, tricked them into an all out war against everyone and victory is pretty much assured anyway >) sad that of the two units i named hammer of gilden, the human version is just so much better... they do look cool though. 

But that same combo is many times more effective on a light-plate Armour wearing group of ironeers armed with kite shields and the same hammer. Many many times more effective both in battle and in auto-resolve. The upkeep was just an idea to make it a more viable alternative to a much much better not at all special unit. Seriously 5 soldiers equipped with hammer of lightning, with the +1 per level becomes 5x more damage, and yes each individual has less HP and armour than the golem but together they have more. The golem gets no further advantages beyond the hammer giving him more attack each level and this it. Where is the benefit in having him then? -30 mana for a cool but suckful unit, ontop of an abhorent metal cost. The only plus is it takes less turns due to being an indvidual, but i question how much of plus that is really, esp when you have the spell that trains units instantly. If you don't believe me -- try it. Beyond being immune to that dirge thingy i can't see a good point here; and in what way is Gilden balanced against the superpowers like Altair, the Yog guys...actually any fallen side who can get the bigger monsters as well demons etc... and juggernaughts (yog guys ) is going to lay the beat down on the golems. IF they could be upgraded with research or a spell they might be alright. Considering its place in the tech-tree, especially since its in the magic line where gilden are trade and war heavy as i understand --> it should be a more of a heavy weight. 

EDIT:

Test unit created Gilden Guardian. In group: 65 attack 62 Defense 45 Health at level 1 (+1 health per level due to race, a high level squad might have considerable health). 12 initiative and 1 move (admittedly not good) but a high initiative is next to useless for a tank. A medium variant can be created with round shields and leather boots and greaves that still sports higher max armor than the golem, and has 2 moves and 16 initiative. 

Test golem 11 attack (1 lightning / 9 weapon / 1 mystery) 54 armour (10 from an ability) 84 health, immunity to poison and crit hits, but vulnerable to lightning (not good). 

Def stays the same as members in a unit dies off. Except when they have specific traits such as Enduring (+defense when under X% hitpoints)

I am pretty sure that defense is not multiplied per unit. A unit of 5 guys with 12 defense have 12 defense in total.

Also one big attack is usually better then 5 small ones because defense is only applied to it once instead of 5 times.

What the golems need: overwhelm. That should be plenty, but if they were nice, then put the three traits (immune to poison, crit, and vulnerable to lightning) into one single trait. That way you can custom tailor your golems a bit better with 2 extra trait slots.

I think something like this would be best.  Looking at golems now, they are just combat units, like any other.  Limited offense vs normal troops means they should be a damage soak, but Gilden likes its melee troops, and there is no way to force units to attack the golem. 

Increasing the attack stats could help, something like overpower, so they scale with enemy numbers, or a flat increase to make them a better choice midgame, when the come out.  However, this doesn't make them very unique, if you were attempting to optimize you'd likely want to max golems or melee troops, not have a mix, which is desirable.

By having some sort of taunt like mechanic, they could protect troops.  Personally, I like taunt, but it may be too powerful, golems are incredibly tough.  Instead, maybe some sort of slow, so that units adjacent can't leave the squares around the golem, would serve a similar purpose if you correctly maneuver.  But if you want to attack a target with both your golem and your troops, they'd be vulnerable to counterattack.

Re: Payday for Iron Golems ...

          ======== >    Iron Maidens, of course.